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The full trip/blog report has:1. ski details2. more people who annoy us3. idiotic gear choices4. the best backcountry pale ale in ‘merica5. odd trip warning signs6. a shout out to a great mtn host (the opposite of #2).

For this, I'll focus on the ski details, beer, and great mtn host. The first topic is therefore obviously about skiing, but I think I could make a solid case for the latter two belonging as well.

Ski details. I’m going to start this one in medias res to get right into the ski details. We got to Artist Point Saturday afternoon around 1:30 pm, ate Subway, threw the gear on, and got moving. We set the tents etc at the junction of Ptarmigan Ridge and the Chain Lakes Trail and headed off with just the skis and boots. This is an amazing place to camp by the way. The trail is still in good condition and it was smooth sailing from there.

I describe things poorly, so here’s where we went: Run 1 was to the point where Ptarmigan takes a hard left and you finally feel like you’re on a ridge. Well at that point we went up a bit more (Straight ahead!) and skied down to skier’s right. It turned out to be 500 vertical ft downhill. Runs 2 and 3 were simply on the way back to camp. As you’re hiking back toward the campsite, the ski hills run up to hiker’s right…so we hiked up a bit, skied it (170 ft more downhill!!!!!), hiked up more, skied it (244 ft of downhill!!!!!!!!), and hiked up to camp. The three runs came to 925 ft with about 1444 total walking up and down to do it. BCFC vertical efficiency = 64%…not too bad.

The best backcountry pale ale in ‘merica. Dale’s Pale Ale. Look this up. 6.4% (I think), really tasty in a can, and it actually says “pack it in. pack it out.”. What more could one ask for? Oh, how about a 9 am Sunday morning shotgun in the parking lot with an ice axe? Oh, ok. I can do that. It has a hole telling you where to hit it!!!

Shout out to a great mtn host. Bob Schneider (sp?). Bob is awesome. First of all, he is the opposite of a naysayer! He was just giving helpful tips and was nice and just friendly! After all the crap before the trip started, he was a breath of fresh air. We forgive him entirely for forgetting about the bike race. And really, who cares? He gave us this great biscotti at 9 am on Sunday and it was really good. The nice ranger informed us he is a retired fire fighter and all-around awesome guy. Thanks Bob! We hope to see you again!